They Thought The Had More Time

I have to apologize to you for seemingly deserting this blog.  I have been dealing with some time consuming and moderately debilitating health issues.  It has been something of a struggle trying to balance doctor's appointments, treatments, and a 50 hour a week job plus still be part of my family and church.  Quite honestly, I'm not sure that I've done any of them well but that's not what I want to talk to you about.

I want to talk to you today about why I'm back.  First off, (that's one of those phrases we use down South) because if there are only five of you out there who read this blog or if there are 5,000 of you, you're each one important to me.

Second, I'm reading a book called "They Thought They Had More Time".  Now it's about the second coming of Christ, but, as much as I love to talk about Christ’s second coming, that's not what we'll talk either. No, it's the book title that struck me about the way I'm spending the days of my life. I could let this health problem control the  way I spend the days of my life or I can control them and continue to do the things that are important.

The name of this blog is Southern Comfort, and the idea was to give you comfort and the assurance God's willingness to stay with you in the middle of your problems and the first thing I did when problems came into my life was to be "too busy" focusing on the things going on in my life.  Sorry!

Don't get me wrong.  Your health is important and it needs your attention as long as your attention can have positive effect on the health issues of your life. There comes a point though, in every issue where what can be done has been done and the constant attention to the issue becomes a distraction to the living of our life.

I recognize that every issue, every distraction, is not the same and the immediate time they claim is not the same but we must not let them become time vampires of our lives.  

Another marvelous little booklet I read in college was called "The Tyranny of the Urgent".  The premise of the book was that we tend to let our lives become dominated by tending to the urgent things in our lives instead of doing the truly important things.

As the days of my life pass (and all of us are watching the days of our lives pass) I don't want my legacy, the things my children and my friends and even you remember about me, to be my problems or my health issues or the TV shows I watched or the video games that I played or that I wasted my life on frivolous distractions.  I want my legacy to be how much I loved my God and my family and helping people find their way in our crazy world and I have to get back at that now because I don't want to find myself in the group that "They Thought They Had More Time".

A Reason to Praise

What a time to start a blog on living in a better relationship with God:  Passion Week, Palm Sunday, Passover! All of the fullness of God's love is demonstrated in this one week. But this blog is about walking with God and in order to walk with God, we first have to recognize who God is. Seriously, how can you walk with someone that you don't know and wouldn't recognize if you saw them. Palm Sunday was designed by God to help us recognize who God is.

First, let us look at what happened on Palm Sunday. The time is the last week of the physical life and earthly ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the week of the observation of the Jewish festival called Passover. The setting includes the city of Jerusalem, the town of Bethany and the highway between them. Passover was, and still is, a celebration held every year on the first full moon after the spring equinox. Even though the religious leaders in Jerusalem had already demonstrated their desire to have Jesus executed, Jesus had determined to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. As Passover approached Jesus had yet to make an appearance in Jerusalem but on the first day of the Passover week things suddenly changed. On Sunday morning (remember, the Jews celebrated Saturday as their day of rest or Sabbath so Sunday was not just the first day of the week, it was the first day of the work week, too) Jesus instructed his 12 closest followers (or disciples) to go into town and they would find a colt tied up like it was waiting. They were to untie it and bring it to Jesus. He told them that if anyone asked them what they were doing, they were to say that the Master had need of it. That was all, no fancy explanations or excuses, just "the Master needs it." And that's what happened. The owner came out and saw them and asked what they were doing. The disciples told him what Jesus had said to tell him and that was that, no arguments, no if ands or buts, they brought the colt to Jesus. Then some of the disciples laid their cloaks on the back of the colt for Jesus to use as a humble saddle while the rest of the disciples laid their cloaks on the road to symbolize what we would call a red carpet. As Jesus drew closer and closer to Jerusalem more and more people began to crowd the road way to see the teacher and healer and miracle worker who was coming to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover with them. They recognized because of the miraculous things Jesus had done (healing the sick, making the lame walk, causing the blind to see, and literally raising the dead) that he was not just an ordinary man so they began to shout out, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord" and "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Now, in the crowds you could also find the religious leaders called Pharisees (now the Pharisees were a group who believed it was absolutely necessary to obey every law, the laws of God and the laws of man, no matter how trivial that law was) and when they saw how this huge crowd was praising Jesus they were absolutely outraged. They pushed their way over to where Jesus sat riding the colt and hollered up at Him (Ok, a Southern phrase slips in a little) and said, "Teacher rebuke your followers!" (A Southern translation would be more like, "Teacher, tell this mangy mob to shut-up!) Jesus didn't get upset or worried, He didn't even bat an eye. He looked that old boy straight in the eye and said "I tell you, if these people were silent, the very stones would cry out"  Luke 19:40 ESV(emphasis mine).

We live in a world where we watch the economy change almost every day and we don't miss a beat. We watch technology change over night and we follow what's happening like our next breath depended on it. And yet we, the most complex part of creation, the crowning glory of God’s handiwork, go through our lives never recognizing the work that God is doing around us every day and never acknowledging His son, Jesus, who came into our world to show us God up close, and suffered to make a way for us to have a relationship with the living God, not just for now, but forever. And even though we are as blind as rocks, Jesus said that even creation, even the rocks recognized who He is and they long to praise Him. Years ago a lady by the name of Dottie Rambo wrote a children's song called: "Ain't Gonna Let the Rocks Cry Out for Me". The words were, Ain't gonna let the rocks cry out for me, Ain't gonna let the rocks cry out for me. I'll lift my hands and shout so the rocks will not cry out, and I ain't gonna let the rocks cry out for me." This weekend, as we remember that Sunday long ago when Jesus rode into Jerusalem being praised as a king, take just a moment of your time and look around to see if you can see that King and lift your voice to praise Him. Then listen real close, you might just hear the rocks praising Him, too. 

The Thought of Southern Comfort

The South has long carried an image of plantations and riverboats and magnolia trees and spanish moss, and it should, those are all part of the South.  But there are other things that are just as much a part of the South, small communities and Friday night High School football games and lazy summer afternoons fishing with a friend and big Sunday dinners after Church.  These all speak of closeness and support when you need it and strong ties that are there for you when your world turns upside down.  That's the southern comfort that I want this blog to be.  We want to talk about things to give you strength and faith and courage.  We want to talk about a lifestyle that is slowed down when yours is racing along out of control.  We want to talk about things that will help you find a paddle when you are "up the creek" without one.  We hope you find this to be a place way down south where there is a big ole pecan tree you can rest under with a quiet stream where you can refresh yourself and a cool breeze where you can relax and enjoy the view as well as enjoy the read.  Join me for a little Southern Comfort!